Side bearing assembly for railway vehicles



Oct. 25, 1960 A. G. HARE 2,957,733

SIDE BEARING ASSEMBLY FOR RAILWAY VEHICLES Filed Feb. 27, 1959 INVENTOR. ALBERT 6 HNzE ATTO 2M E JS United States Patent SIDE BEARING ASSEMBLY FOR RAI LWAY EHICLES Albert G. Hare, 482 Askin Blvd., Windsor, Ontario, (Janada Filed Feb. 27, 1959, Ser. No. 795,945

'4 Claims. (Cl. 308-40) This invention relates to axle bearings and, more specifically, the present invention pertains to the provision of side bearings for railroad car axles.

One of the primary objects of this invention is to provide side bearings for railroad car axles, the side bearings being designed to keep the journal load carrying bearing from becoming displaced and otherwise distorting the load carrying bearing upon the application of brakes and upon initial starting movements.

Another object of this invention is to provide side bearings for railroad car axles which are resiliently mounted preferably in a rubber support which is resistive to oil deterioration, which will take moderate heat and pressure, and which would do the same without impairing the cushioning efiect thereof.

Other and further objects and advantages of the instant invention will become more evident from a consideration of the following specification when read in the light of the annexed drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a conventional journal box for a railroad car in which is disposed axle side bearings constructed in accordance with this invention;

Figure 2. is an enlarged detail cross-sectional view of the side bearing assembly and associated component elements of the journal box. Figure 2 being taken substantially on the vertical plane of line 2-2 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail cross-sectional view of the assembly shown in Figure 2, Figure 3 being taken substantially on the horizontal plane of line 33 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view of the side bearing assembly, per se.

Referring now more specifically to the drawing, reference numeral designates, in general, a journal side bearing constructed in accordance with the teachings of this invention. The journal side bearing assembly is seen to be disposed within a conventional hollow railroad journal box 12 having a closure member 14 hingedly connected thereon at '16, the journal box 12 being rigidly connected to conventional truck members 18. The journal box 12 includes a substantially rectangular top wall 20 from which depend a pair of laterally spaced side walls 22, 24 having outwardly offset arcuately shaped terminal end walls 26, 28 and an arcuate bottom wall 30 merging therewith and being oppositely disposed and vertically spaced from the top wall 2%.

The journal box 12 also includes a conventional rear end wall through which extends one end of an axle 34 journalled for rotation in a bearing block 36 comprising a bearing block seat 38 housed between the top wall 20 and the side walls 22, 24 and which receives therein a bearing 40 having a conventional Babbitt metal bearing liner 42 secured thereto, all being conventional in this art.

The side bearing assembly 10 to which this invention is addressed is formed of a resilient material, preferably ice of spring steel and includes a substantially semi-circular main support frame member 44 having axially extend ing inwardly projecting and angularly inclined flanges 46, 48 which terminate at their respective ends in a pair of normally upright, substantially rectangular support arms 50, 52 and 54, 56, respectively.

Each pair of support arms 50, 52, and 54, 56, releasably receive and support a substantially rectangular resilient (preferably made of rubber) support member 58 including a rectangular outer base section 60 having a centrally disposed substantially U-shaped recess 62 extending inwardly from the upper end thereof giving rise to a pair of laterally spaced, substantially rectangular tabs 64, 66. The lower end of the base 60 at the exterior side thereof is preferably arcuately shaped as indicated at 68. From the inner side of the base 60 projects a substantially trapezoidal mounting member 70 integral therewith and including a pair of opposed normally upright sides 72, 74 which converge inwardly towards the base section 60 to form a pair of dove-tailed slots 76, 78

1 therewith.

. substantially rectangular main body portion 82 in one side of which is'formed a curvilinear bearing recess 84. The opposite side of the main body portion 82 is formed with a centrally located vertically extending substantially rectangular recess 86 open at its top and bottom ends thus providing a pair of longitudinally spaced shoulders 88, 90 at each end thereof. A substantially trapezoidal recess defined by side walls 92, 94 which converge from a back wall 96 is provided and opens into the recess 86. The main body portion 82, at its lower end, is undercut at 98, the undercut extending longitudinally thereof and intersecting the lower end of the trapezoidal recess.

The side bearing 10 is assembled by slidably engaging the support arms 50, 52 and 54, 56 within the grooves 76, 78 of a pair of support members 58 with the trapezoidal mounting member 70 disposed in spaced confronting relation.

The side bearings are now slid over the trapezoidal mounting members 70, the latter entering the trapezoidal recess of the bearings 80 from the open lower undercut end thereof, the curvilinear bearing recesses being disposed in spaced confronting relation.

The assembled unit is now ready for insertion within the journal box 12 with the main support frame member 44 engaging the bottom Wall 30 and adjacent portions of the terminal end Walls 26, 28. The outer sides of the base sections 60 engage against adjacent portions of the terminal end walls 26, 28 and the axle 34 is received on diametrically opposed sides within the bearing recesses 84.

With the side bearings in place it should now be obvious that the same tend to resiliently resist any tendency of the ends of the axles to pivot or shift forwardly or 'backwardly under impact stresses and strains.

Having described and illustrated one embodiment of this invention in detail, it will be understood that the same is offered merely by way of example, and that this invention is to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A side bearing assembly for an axle comprising a substantially semi-circular main support frame member having a pair of confronting ends, a non-metallic resilient support member mounted on each of said ends, an elongated substantially rectangular bearing for each of said support members, said bearings each having a curvilinear recess formed therein to rotatably receive portions of said axle therebetween, and means releasably connecting said bearings on said support members.

2. A side bearing assembly for an axle comprising a substantially semi-circular main support frame member having a pair of confronting ends, a non-metallic support member mounted on each of said ends, an elongated substantially rectangular bearing for each of said support members, said bearings each having a curvilinear recess formed therein to rotatably receive portions of said axle therebetween, said recesses being disposed in confronting relation relative to each other for engagement with said axle on diametrically opposed sides thereof, and resilient means releasably connecting said bearings on said ends.

3. A side bearing assembly for an axle having an end thereof rotatably received Within a substantially hollow journal box having opposed spaced top and bottom Walls and a pair of opposed side walls, said assembly comprising an open main support frame disposed in said journal box and having portions thereof in face-to-face engagement with said bottom and side walls, said support frame having a pair of opposed confronting ends each having an inwardly extending recess to form a pair of laterally spaced tabs, a non-metallic resilient support member slidably mounted on each of said pair of tabs, a bearing mounted on each of said support members, said bearings having confronting side each formed with an axle receiving recess, said axle engaging within said recesses on diametrically opposed sides of the former, and releasable means for connecting said support members with their respective bearings.

4. A side bearing assembly for an axle having an end thereof rotatably received within a substantially hollow journal box having opposed spaced top and bottom walls and a pair of opposed spaced side walls, said assembly comprising an open main support frame disposed within said journal box and having portions thereof in face-toface engagement with said bottom and side walls, said support frame having a pair of ends terminating in inwardly inclined flanges from which project a pair of spaced support arms; a support member, said support member comprising a substantially rectangular base section having a substantially trapezoidal mounting member projecting laterally therefrom, said mounting member having a pair of opposed sides converging inwardly toward said base to form a pair of grooves therebetween, means on said flanges slidably entering said grooves to releasably connect said base to said frame, a bearing member for each of said support members, each of said bearings having a substantially trapezoidal recess formed therein adapted to releasably receive said trapezoidal mounting member therein, and each of said bearing having confronting spaced sides in which are formed longitudinally extending bearing recesses adapted to receive and engage against said axle at substantially diametrically opposed sides thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,481,120 Iuel et a1. Sept. 6, 1949 2,684,878 Foss July 27, 1954 2,354,295 McEwen Sept. 30, 1958 

